Following is a summary of current health news briefs.
Shanghai residents bristle as authorities turn COVID screws
An uncompromising response to a spike in local COVID-19 cases in the Chinese financial hub of Shanghai is testing the resolve of residents, with a wave of school closures and other draconian measures causing disruptions throughout the city. China’s health authority said another 76 asymptomatic local infections were found in Shanghai on Wednesday, and authorities have been sealing off schools, residential compounds and office blocks as part of a “dynamic clearance” approach aimed at shutting down each new transmission route as soon as it arises.
Hong Kong leader plans to reopen city only after controlling latest COVID outbreak
Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam said on Thursday it was not the time to lift a ban on flights from nine countries including the United States and Britain, with plans to reopen the city only after the government controls a deepening coronavirus outbreak. The global financial hub has some of the most draconian restrictions in place to combat a surge in coronavirus cases that has seen the city suffer the most deaths globally per million people in the week to March 7, according to the Our World in Data publication.
U.S. health insurer Anthem plans to rebrand as Elevance Health
Anthem Inc said on Thursday it intends to change its name to Elevance Health Inc, as the company looks to shift its focus beyond the health insurance business. The U.S. health insurer’s rebranding move is not its first, having previously changed its identity from WellPoint Inc around eight years ago.
Africa CDC has MOU with Pfizer for supplies of COVID-19 pill
Africa’s top public health agency has agreed a memorandum of understanding with Pfizer to bring supplies of the pharmaceutical firm’s Paxlovid antiviral COVID-19 pills to the continent, its director said on Thursday. Data from a mid-to-late stage study in November showed Paxlovid was nearly 90% effective in preventing hospitalisations and deaths compared to placebo, in adults at high risk of severe illness.
Opioid victims to confront Purdue Pharma’s Sacklers in U.S. court
Victims of America’s opioid addiction epidemic will confront in court on Thursday the Sackler family members who own OxyContin-maker Purdue Pharma, in an attempt to force them to face their role in a crisis that claimed 500,000 overdose deaths. The two-hour hearing conducted by Zoom stemmed from a $6 billion settlement between the Sacklers and state attorneys general which could resolve claims over the family’s role in the crisis without taking them to trial.
U.S. man with transplanted genetically modified pig heart dies
A 57-year-old man with terminal heart disease who made history as the first person to receive a genetically modified pig’s heart died on Tuesday at the University of Maryland Medical Center (UMMC), the hospital said. David Bennett received the transplant on Jan 7.
German cabinet approves scrapping of Nazi-era abortion law
Germany’s cabinet on Wednesday approved legislation that will do away with a Nazi-era law forbidding doctors from providing information about abortions. Doctors in Germany are allowed to say they offer termination of pregnancies but are not allowed to provide any further information on such procedures.
China’s local symptomatic COVID cases nearly double; curbs start to bite
Mainland China reported 402 locally transmitted COVID-19 infections with confirmed symptoms for March. 9, official data showed on Thursday, nearly doubling from the daily count a day earlier. Of those, 165 were in the northeastern province of Jilin, the National Health Commission said in a statement. That marks the highest daily count for the province since China contained its first national outbreak in early 2020.
Germany reports record COVID-19 cases as curbs set to ease
Germany reported a record number of coronavirus infections on Thursday as the country prepares to lift most remaining restrictions. Germany reported 262,752 new infections, 52,079 more than a week ago, with the seven-day incidence rate rising to 1,389 infections per 100,000 people, from 1,319 a day earlier. Another 259 people died, bringing the total death toll to 125,023.
Pandemic fallout could exacerbate Europe’s drinking problem – WHO
Europe saw a fall in alcohol consumption in the first year of the pandemic, but that decline could reverse in coming years as the economic fallout of COVID-19 takes its toll, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Thursday. The WHO’s European Health Report, published every three years, said that alcohol consumption decreased in Europe between 2000 and 2019.
(With inputs from agencies.)
